SS Props after the fact

[steveziv]

In the fall the surveyor and seller told me to pull the props from my Bravo 1's and soak them in vinegar. That didn't happen. I pulled them a couple weeks ago and now want to clean them up.

Here they are. Whatever the vinegar is supposed to do (dissolve what left of the barnacles I guess), how long does it take to get it done? If I stack these props in a bin it will take a few gallons of vinegar to immerse them.

So what's the process? soak them? for how long? just clean them with brass wool maybe? Do the blades need to be polished or coated? I'm in lightly brackish water in the upper Chesapeake. TIA.

 

[Bay B's]

I have not tried the vinegar method. Being so cheap, if it works, I'll have to give it a try. Let us know if you do and how it works.

 

[Strecker25]

I tried it but didn't do a thing. We don't have barnacles, but rather a nice brown film from the muddy bottom of the lake. I went with muriatic acid. It literally dissolved the nasty stuff. Make sure you wear hands arms eyes and respiratory protection and do it outside. They look brand new now.

I bought the "green" acid from lowes for like $10 a gallon

 

[Woody]

I use muriatic acid but I bet some good car wheel cleaner would do a good job to.

 

[magstang1]

I just used this stuff. The picture pretty much explains it.

 

[Lazy Daze]

There's barely anything on those props. I don't think I'd waste the amount of gallons of liquid that you'd need. I'd just clean them by hand. Muriatic, On&Off (which is similar to Muriatic... hydrochloric acid, basically), Acid Magic... all easily attainable and will work well. A few years ago I bought a few gallons of muriatic at a local hardware store and I think it was about $4/gallon. I've had mixed results with white vinegar, but you probably have some at home so it's worth a try. You could dampen some paper towels with your liquid of choice of lay it on the areas you need to. That will keep it concentrated on the affected areas. Some bronze wool will help things go a little faster, if you want.

 

[steveziv]

Thanks for the responses. I have some On & Off gel so I'll just use that and a 3M pad.

 

[SAshton]

What did you use to polish them up? I wish just the on/off would do that. Looks great but a lot of polishing I'm sure.

 

[magstang1]

Mine? Just on and off. No polishing.

 

[tony357]

I think you forgot the oil when you used the vinegar..

 

[SloBurn]

I use Noxon stainless steel polish, works great on all SS.

 

[RichardS]

Just used Mother's Aluminum Polish on a pair of S/S props I got from a buddy and they came up great. LOT of work though. Apply, polish, cloth turns dark black, get new section of cloth, repeat. Took a while! But they look great. I used to use Mother's on the rims of my Harley and even though they were aluminum, with enough polishing with Mother's they'd look like chrome. Amazing product.

 

[mnm99]

I use muriatic acid but I bet some good car wheel cleaner would do a good job to.

Yup..+1...Acid. Works great and cheap